"If" By Omar Khayyam

If

If  Madrasahs of those drunks
Became the educational institutes
Of teaching philosophy of
Epicures, Plato and Aristotle;

If Abodes and Mazars of Pir and Dervish
Is turned into research institutes,
If men instead of following blind faith of religion
Should have cultivated ethics,

If the abode of worships were turned into
Centers of learning of all academic activities,
If instead of studying religion, men
Would have devoted to develop mathematics – algebra,

If logic of science would have occupied the place of
Sufism, faith and superstition,
Religion that divides human beings
Would have been replaced by humanism…

Then the world would have turned into heaven,
The world on the other side then 

Would have become extinguished
The world would then become full of
Love-affection-freedom-joy,
And there is no doubt about it.

Omar Khayyam (1048-1122)